Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-30

while last year the proportions
were sixty-three and thirty-fivs
per cent. This is not alt geth,
er, say her Majesty's Commits
toner's, to the advantage\ of the rev
enue, as the teas from fpdia beinl
stronger than those from China, s
smaller quantity Of them goes as fal
for the same purpose as larger quan
tity OF teas from the latter country
But who cares a pinch OF Bohea fol
Treasury OFFICIALS when such things
are at stake as the welfare of India
and the brewing of really good after
noon cup? Indian teas are almost al.
ways prepared with scrupulous hon
esty of manufacture, which is more
| than can be said of those sent from
the Celestial Kingdom, although, with
the low duty at present existing, there
is not so much adulteration in this ar
ticle as once prevailed when Gle
teas" used to come over which scarce
y contained a single leaf Of the genu-
inc ''thea viridis."
Rubbish is, of course, imported even
now, which is made to serve its pur-
pose by crafty blending with better
samples; but the people at large are
good judges of the commodity, and
the seller OF sloe-leaves and willow
leaves colored with gypsum and indigo
does not find his knavish business
prosper. All dealers admit that, ex-
cepting the very finest qualities-such
as the Young Hyson, styled "Man-
DARN tea," made of the tender bud,
and seldom seen in this country-the
Chinese leaf profits by admixture
with the Indian. The gardens OF
India and Ceylon now send to Great
Britain, as we see, IS pounds out of
every 100 pounds employed ameng us,
having increased their supply more
than two-fold in ten years. And
when we consider what l80, 900. 900
pounds signify in the breadth Of land
occupied by the tea plants, the num-
ber of hands employed in picking.
drying, rolling, sorting, packing and
exporting the immense harvest; that
40 shillings' worth of the best tay,'
hazarded as speculative consignment
by the old company, wears an aspect
more wonderful than the scriptural
grain OF mustard seed"
Philologists, too, might find much
to discourse upon in the way in which
the coup that cheers" has had its
name changed. In China, its origi-
nal home, il is "tcha;" in
India, it's adopted home, it is
also "chay,p and such was
its original pronunciation with Eng
lishmen, as is plain from the couplet,
Here thou, great Anna, whom three
realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel
it was the French ''the," or the Span
ish "te," which altered the original
appellation.
An Indian tea-garden is at the
proper season a very beautiful sight,
especially when cultivation has been
clean and.careful. They are spread
ing, and they will greatly spread; but,
if tea and coffee should never be
wholly dethroned from their dietetic
pride OF place, it is quite possible
that new beverages may be invented
to rival them. Mate, which the Pc
ruvian sucks hot through silver pipe
kQsIAdnets tiidI LlkC liOCDtk
berry or the Chinese leaf in theme
the kola nut and the coca plant are
all possible competitors. The negro
of the Soudan, Mauritius, West In
dies and Brazil would not give up the
kola nut for the best OF tea or coffee.
Then there are millions OF people " no
drink infusions of the leaves of ssxi-
frage, of ledum, of pimento, and par
fridge berry, and hundreds of unsus-
pected plants contain the ingredients
which the human race seeks for in
such beverages. The chief OF these
are the alkaloid, which is present by
d proportion of about 3 per cent in Or
dinary tea, and the aromatic oil which |
gives to that and to coffee their special |
flavor.
The Chinese will not drink new tea |
because it contains too much Of the |
latter ingredient, and is sometimes ac-
tually Intoxicating. The theme" di-
the waste of the body, ena-
bling it to get along with less nourish-
ment, so that it saves food and is in |
valued for this by the poor.
TheTartars obtain still more sustenance
from their brick tea by powdering it
and boiling with salt and mutton fat,
whereby the casecine or gluten Of the
plant becomes extracted. Then they
can live for weeks ON the tea leaves,
which the British housewife throws
away. On the other hand it is dis
tinctly bad to let tea stand too long !
that brings out tannin, and too much |
tannin will turn meat taken at the
same time into sort OF leather within !
the stomach. There can be little need,
however, to instruct the. matron of
these islands in the art of tea-making.
From the silver gilt equipage of the
Duchess to the brown front pot in |
which the washerwoman solemnlv pre-
pares her evening dish of tea, the art |
of making it is essentially feminine,
and has been profoundly studied. One
hundred and eighty million pounds
per annum all passed through teapots
what a river to spring from Pepys'
first tentative spoonful and the mod
est Investment Of the old East India
Company London Telegraph.
A Liars Paradise.
West Virginia is small, sparsely-